99$ ??? He must be waiting for idiots with little brain but big wallet...
-mike-

Agreed, that plus the cost of the 9116 and you could get a pretty nice heli. I ended up getting 2 Extreme 180 motors off Ebay for $21 total. I'll report on them when they arrive next week. So 1 Extreme main motor along with a f45 tail motor and toss in a lipo if you like for a total of about $32.

Has anyone tried putting different rotor blades on their 9116? I would like something about an inch longer and stiffer than the stock ones. I was wondering if maybe 9117 blades would work: they would have the length but I don't know about the stiffness.

Guys my 9116 is coming in today. This will be my first heli pretty much. I had one years ago but had no idea how to fly it, I pretty much got all crashes no flying. Anyways will the heli come auto trimmed or will it come trimmed very badly. Will I be able to practice flying it in a big bed room or should I wait till I find a large open area which isn't nearby. I already watched some videos of how you get started by sliding it around the floor.

I just received my 9116 via UPS!! The unboxing was exciting. (as it is with any new bird) It wasn't cumbersome to release the helicopter with too many twisty ties strapping the machine into the packaging, there was only two easy ones. I felt the packaging was bright, exciting and inviting.

I've got the battery charging now, so i'll soon be able to fire it up and test to make sure everything is working.

The official maiden flight won't be today though its a bit too windy outside to try and fly a new bird I have no feeling for. I'm hoping i'll get lucky and catch a break from the wind this afternoon sometime. But as with any questionable weather, there's no guarantees.

I've discovered that the manual for the Tx is confusing! I blame the horrible Chinese translation. I'm sure if I read it over three or four times, i'll figure it out though. But learning most of these new features will come with trial and error in the field. This is however, the most advanced Tx I have. I do like how the Tx feels. It fits my hands well and its not too heavy. And I'm excited to try binding it with my V911 in a few days time.

My initial impressions of the helicopter are positive as well. It seems to be a very sturdy and well built helicopter featuring a metal chassis and a solid hard plastic canopy. I love the metal tail boom as it appears to be very resistant to damage from flybar strikes and/or crashes. The landing skids seem to be composed of a pretty durable and moderately flexible plastic which seem to be somewhat forgiving when it comes to hard landings. The main rotor blades appear to be durable and flexible, which means they're forgiving as well when it comes to a crash or any other type of collision with an object.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with this bird right out of the box. The real test however comes in flight.

I'll soon start stocking up on repair parts as well, to ensure maximum enjoyment from this helicopter!

Bottom line: I'm happy to welcome the 9116 as the newest bird to my fleet.

I had an opportunity to take my new 9116 out to the empty two car garage, away from the wind in an attempt to test everything out.

I managed to bring the 9116 to a reasonable hover, but i'm still trying to trim it out. My five minute flight time came to an end quickly, as I didn't feel completely confident in my trimming by the time my five minutes was up.

One thing I have noticed, is the Tx stores your trim settings after its been powered off. According to a youtube review I watched while considering this helicopter, the Tx didn't store trim settings in memory when it was powered off, but that was quickly disproven with my experimentation today.

Another thing I noticed was, if you don't straighten out the main rotor blades before spinning up, the blades can get caught on the tail boom. A minor inconvenience but an easy fix nonetheless. Its good practice anyways to straighten the main rotor blades before any flight.

Now I'm waiting for the battery to cool so I can charge it up again, and perhaps try another test flight this afternoon.

I had an opportunity to take my new 9116 out to the empty two car garage, away from the wind in an attempt to test everything out.

I managed to bring the 9116 to a reasonable hover, but i'm still trying to trim it out. My five minute flight time came to an end quickly, as I didn't feel completely confident in my trimming by the time my five minutes was up.

One thing I have noticed, is the Tx stores your trim settings after its been powered off. According to a youtube review I watched while considering this helicopter, the Tx didn't store trim settings in memory when it was powered off, but that was quickly disproven with my experimentation today.

Another thing I noticed was, if you don't straighten out the main rotor blades before spinning up, the blades can get caught on the tail boom. A minor inconvenience but an easy fix nonetheless. Its good practice anyways to straighten the main rotor blades before any flight.

Now I'm waiting for the battery to cool so I can charge it up again, and perhaps try another test flight this afternoon.

Guys my 9116 is coming in today. This will be my first heli pretty much. I had one years ago but had no idea how to fly it, I pretty much got all crashes no flying. Anyways will the heli come auto trimmed or will it come trimmed very badly. Will I be able to practice flying it in a big bed room or should I wait till I find a large open area which isn't nearby. I already watched some videos of how you get started by sliding it around the floor.

First:
Welcome! You'll have fun and sometimes tears in your eyes
Second:
I would recommend to download stormforces Tech-manual http://customers.skymesh.net.au/~mat...ech_manual.pdf and trim the bird manually in - center servos and then level the swashplate according to the instructions given there.
It will need 2-3 charges but its worth every second of time invested.
Third:
Don't try to fly it in a bed-room (ok - you can do it if its 5*5 yards minimum with no obstacles and has a 4 yards ceiling....) this bird need space and is heavy enough to damage furniture - and there's the wooden magnetism in walls, too
Just find an empty garage or some no-wind-area for your first hovering minutes and trimming.

If you should encounter any problems, feel free to ask here.
Have fun!
-mike-

One thing I have noticed, is the Tx stores your trim settings after its been powered off. According to a youtube review I watched while considering this helicopter, the Tx didn't store trim settings in memory when it was powered off, but that was quickly disproven with my experimentation today.

Ok - the TX IS saving your trims - but only the subtrims in the menu.
the trim-buttons settings get lost every time you switch it off - so use them only for quick small adjustments while flying (You'll need the rudder-trim buttons far by most, because the bird will slightly loose power in the rear motor as the batt goes down)
But please trim the bird mechanically to a near as possible hands-free hover before doing the rest in the menu. You'll loose a lot movement authority if you don't do it.
-mike-

I had an opportunity to take my new 9116 out to the empty two car garage, away from the wind in an attempt to test everything out.

I managed to bring the 9116 to a reasonable hover, but i'm still trying to trim it out. My five minute flight time came to an end quickly, as I didn't feel completely confident in my trimming by the time my five minutes was up.

One thing I have noticed, is the Tx stores your trim settings after its been powered off. According to a youtube review I watched while considering this helicopter, the Tx didn't store trim settings in memory when it was powered off, but that was quickly disproven with my experimentation today.

Another thing I noticed was, if you don't straighten out the main rotor blades before spinning up, the blades can get caught on the tail boom. A minor inconvenience but an easy fix nonetheless. Its good practice anyways to straighten the main rotor blades before any flight.

Now I'm waiting for the battery to cool so I can charge it up again, and perhaps try another test flight this afternoon.

Thanks mike, i'm real excited. Now one question on youtube it doesn't show how to install the training gear for the one i have, it doesnt come with zip ties. http://www.bananahobby.com/product_78371_detailed.html
Its called the small training kit, i need some help please.